


languor in the calm of your shade

by TheSpaceCoyote



Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alpha Kylo Ren, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Emperor Hux, Hurt Armitage Hux, Hurt/Comfort, Injury Recovery, M/M, Major Character Injury, Mpreg, Omega Armitage Hux, Pregnant Armitage Hux, Protective Kylo Ren
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-24
Updated: 2019-01-24
Packaged: 2019-10-15 16:51:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17532530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSpaceCoyote/pseuds/TheSpaceCoyote
Summary: Emperor Hux recovers from an attempted assassination, while his Enforcer seeks forgiveness for his failure.





	languor in the calm of your shade

**Author's Note:**

> Omegaverse, mpreg, and injury fic is my bread and butter. I also really enjoy the whole Emperor Hux deal so I wanted to play with it. 
> 
> Kind of soft-ish, I still don't know what I'm doing with these characters.

When Hux finally opens his eyes, it’s the middle of the night.

The bedroom window leading out onto the balcony typically lies open, gauzy curtains fluttering in the slight breeze that kept the bedroom cool. Now, however, it’s closed, shutting out the wind and much of the moonlight and sealing the room in a warm, cloistered darkness.

Even so a dark blue casts through the windows, vaguely illuminated the shapes in Hux’s room. His eyes are still bleary, mind too exhausted to focus on his surroundings. But it’s easy enough to tell what the warm, softly breathing weight on the pillow besides his head is.

Kylo kneels by the bed, large enough that his torso keeps level with the edge, where the delicate sheets tuck into the broad wooden frame. Hux always thought his bed was too large without Kylo in it, and he wonders why his knight hasn’t taken his customary position with his hands cradling the emperor’s growing belly as they slept, instead choosing to crouch supplicant at his side. Then Hux tries to move, to brush the crop of wild hair out of his alpha’s face, and tenderness pinches in his chest and shoulders.

The pain doesn’t quite call anything to his mind, but the little gasp that leaves his lips has Kylo’s head jolting up, barest glow of his face and wet glimmer of his eyes revealed from under the curtain of hair.

“Hux…” His alpha’s voice is hoarse, worn like it usually was when Kylo’s returned from a particularly trying mission Hux sent him on. It’s been awhile since he’s heard his alpha sound so threadbare.

“Be still…” One gloved hand clutches its discarded brother as Kylo reaches carefully across the bed, resting his bare palm against Hux’s shoulder. “I was told you might not wake until morning.”

Heaviness weighs on the emperor’s body and mind, keeping Hux still even as questions roll to the forefront. He works his lips together, finding his tongue dry and hard to move. He lets his eyes fall halfway shut as he chooses to pick one query out of the fog, clear enough for his mate to grasp without words.

_What happened?_

Hux can feel Kylo through the bond before he speaks, lips struggling to ready the emotions his mate can already sense so deeply. Anger. Frustration. _Regret_. For a moment, worry sinks into the Hux’s chest as he slides a hand down to his stomach, only to find it still warm and full of life. He calms slightly, feeling the weight of his heirs inside him.

“An attempt on your life,” Kylo begins after a deep exhale, fingers absently stroking against his mate’s shoulder. Hux realizes then he’s wearing nothing but his filmy night robes, the kind his alpha has ripped on several occasions.

“The contingent from Corellia…I checked them for weaponry myself…” Kylo shakes his head, grappling with his own recollection. Hux, despite his fatigue, fills in the cracks with the vague noise and imagery fed through their bond—shouts, chaos, leather glistening deep scarlet. Bright lights of the throne room piercing overhead. Hux shuts his eyes against it, far preferring the dark of their bedroom.

“I was nearly too late…no. I _was_.” Kylo moves to take Hux’s hand, cradling it in both his bare and gloved palms.

“There…were three blaster bolts fired. One I deflected. One caught me in my chest.” Kylo’s lips tremble around his words as if they sink back into him like knives.

Hux’s free hand drifts up from his belly, briefly, finding the soreness just to the side of his sternum. The skin still feels puffy and slightly tacky to the touch, even through his thin robe. Memory drifts back to him now—the unexpected burn burying deep into his chest, the sudden weightless in his body even as hands grasped at him, the roil of his pups as they clung to life inside him—

Kylo lowers his chin, resting the emperor’s knuckles against his forehead. Hux can feel his brow twitch and tremble, struggling to repress the pain so evident in his voice.

“Forgive me…for my failure.”

Hux stays silent, gazing at his mate from beneath the wisps of his hair. With his eyes adjusted to the dark he can make out Kylo’s broad shoulders now, bathed in the deep blue light of their bedroom and shaking with the weight of guilt. Hux wonders how long it’s been since his alpha has slept, if he’s allowed himself a moment of respite at all.

 _“I was told you might not wake until morning.”_ Would Kylo have waited all night if Hux hadn’t risen early, intentionally robbing himself of rest until he was pardoned?

Hux sighs, usual exasperation gentler. His mind feels a little more clear now, tongue less heavy in his mouth. He returns his hand to his belly to rest near his pups, before managing a whisper. 

“You were injured?” His voice sounds as weary as his alpha’s, though due to disuse rather than sorrow. 

Kylo allows Hux to lift his hand from his hold as he trails it down the soft curls of his alpha’s hair, beneath the furred cowl deeply soaked in his scent. He finds firm, bare skin, shuddering with uneasy heartbeat.

“You fool…” Hux sighs once his fingers brush over the new lines of scarring on his mate’s chest. “Trying to ensure our pups grow up with no parents at all?”

“My duty lies in protecting the emperor.”

“Your duty to _me_ ,” Hux raises his hand, cupping the older, weathered scar on Kylo’s cheek, “is to stay alive so that our children will see their father.”

“And they would’ve seen nothing at all, should all those bolts have hit you.” Kylo leans into Hux’s palm. “I do not regret my injury.”

“You’re still so emotional…despite everything…” Hux shifts carefully, rolling onto his side to get the weight of his stomach off his hips. He feels more comfortable this way, belly cradled by the give of the bed rather than his own body—though now his back faces wide, empty space and cold bedsheets pleading to be warmed by another.

“Enough groveling. Come.” Hux’s fingers brush away the locks of Kylo’s hair matted to his temple. “You know this bed is far too lonely without you.”

Kylo hesitates, as if doubtful he’s done enough to earn that right back, but Hux guides his face closer, lifting himself enough to press his lips against his alpha’s. It’s the only absolution he offers, and thankfully Kylo accepts it, rising from his kneel only to finally crawl into bed with his mate.

The furred cowl slips from Kylo’s shoulders, settling about them both as he slides in behind Hux, filling in the abandoned space. Broad arms search beneath the layers of bedding, finally slotting into their welcomed embrace around the emperor’s blooming waist. Hux hums, content as he feels Kylo’s hands finally cradle their pups, his nose brushing the soft ginger hairs at the back of his neck.

“You’ll need new ceremonial robes,” Kylo murmurs, voice slow as he rubs Hux’s belly. Warm lips, already starting to loosen with sleep, kiss where the hem of the emperor’s nightgown meets his skin. Hux lets his eyes fall closed at the sensation, hands joining atop his mate’s, feeling the reassuring rise and fall of his breath together.

“…Was going to need new ones anyway. About to outgrow them, and all.”

One pup nudges against their hands as if to respond, earning a smile of relief from both parents as they drift off into it sleep.

The darkness of the room closes in around them, swallowing up the last of the visible world. Perhaps in the morning—when light illuminates through the windows, rending the soft shapes of their bedroom apart—Hux will more deeply comprehend his brush with death, feel the brunt of his injuries once he sees them evidenced in his skin.

But for now Kylo’s scent washes over him as if it’s missed him, missed settling into every niche in Hux’s body. It holds him close, envelops him like the night and he knows, deeply, that his alpha will never allow harm to come to Hux or their children ever again.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know if you'd like me to play more with this AU/omegaverse stuff?


End file.
